17 February, 2012

Certainty and doubt

Buddha was gathered together with his disciples one morning, when a man came up to him:‘Does God exist?’ he asked.‘He does,’ replied Buddha.

After lunch, another man came up to him.Does God exist?’ he asked.‘No, he doesn’t,’ said Buddha.

Later that afternoon, a third man asked the same question: ‘Does God exist?’‘That’s for you to decide,’ replied Buddha.

As soon as the man had gone, one of his disciples remarked angrily:‘But that’s absurd, Master! How can you possibly give such different answers to the same question?’

‘Because they are all different people, and each one of them will reach God by his own path. The first man will believe what I say. The second will do everything he can to prove me wrong. The third will only believe in what he is allowed to choose for himself.’